Real Life Truman

header: ‘The Truman Show’

Imagine a game, one where one contestant can win 1 million yen with no competition…and no clothes, or food, or water, until they won it. Let me introduce to you the closest humans have come to creating Black Mirror-style torture entertainment or to the Japanese, the “funniest comedy act they’d ever seen” (This American Life (2015). In 1998 to 2002, ‘Susunu! Denpa Shonen’ / ‘Don’t Go For It Electric Boy!’ shone through as a real and live entertainment that could double for a science experiment or hit American movie.

Susunu! Denpa Shonen / Don’t Go For It Electric Boy!

Toshio Tsuchiya, producer of the show prior to the infamous Nasubi, wanted to test the “journey” experienced in the previous show where he says the participants forget about the camera …and allowed their human sides to be revealed. This “essence” is what he wanted for ‘Susunu! Denpa…